Frozen Death Alchemist
by Dr. ForgottenFables
Summary: He had only wanted to help his family, to see his little sister walk on her own two feet. But when Danny Fenton gets to close to the Truth, Truth decides to teach him his place. Now stuck in an immortal body, Danny must solve the mysteries surrounding his parents disappearance. What is this red alchemic light? And what does it have to do with the fabled Philosopher's Stone?
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

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People are born, they live, and then they die.

It is one of the truths of the universe. One that can be resisted, but not defied. One of the first things that every Alchemist must learn is that the hands of time only goes one way. The circle of life cannot be turned back. Once something is dead, it is gone forever.

Life is like a wonderful ball, one that will end at the stroke of midnight, when all the magic that surrounds it disappears.

But if we cannot turn back the hands of time, can we slow them down? Can they be stopped entirely? Even in the second in which the magic vanishes, are there not an endless number of moments that could be experienced?

What if we stop death rather than trying to turn it back? Continue life even though the body has already dead.

After all what is life other than the constant cycle of chemical reactions needed to keep the body going. Each moment following on from the last one until the cycle is broken. All one needs to do is find a way to continue the cycle even after the heart has stopped its beating. To hold on to this world for dear life even after all life is truly gone. To straight that last moment until it lasts for an eternity.

Though to do such a thing would be to resist the worlds truth, to stand against whatever god had forged the world and to fidel with the very nature of the human soul.

This is the story of a body who stumbled upon this very state of eternity and was bound by the eyes of truth to seek out a way to right what wrongs he committed.

The tale of the Frozen Death Alchemist.

* * *

 **Another concept story that I have zero intention of continuing but might be some food for thought to anyone thinking of writing something like this.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

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"...Nickel; .735 grams. Ammonia; 1.12 grams..." Danny mumbled the ingredients, that he knew by heart, off one by one as he placed them all in a small circle covered in a complex array of symbols in front of him. But even though every action had been preformed a thousand times before, he never let his focus waver even a little bit. Each and every time he did this, a single mistake could be the difference between life and death. Finishing the measurements, Danny let out a soft sigh, placing his fingers on the edge of the circle.

'The world's current'. Those had been his father's words to describe these feeling, that sensation that rushed through his body as the sparks of raw energy cycled through the earth and through his vary being before traveling into his fingertips to the circle. Even though Danny couldn't see more than the light that flickered around the edges, he knew exactly how the energy was moving through the circles structure, the rates and stages of the transmutation that was starting to take shape. The chemicals in front of him fizzled and glowed as the alchemic process broke them down and reformed them, changing both their shape and their nature. The light reflected in Danny's bright blue eyes, the sight just as spell-binding as the day he had first been shown it, some eleven years ago.

But soon the light died off and Danny was staring down at a small set of pills. Danny allowed himself a small smile as he swept them into a envelope labeled Izzy Manson. Then straightening himself up, he stretched his arms out to get rid of the stiff feeling in his back and shoulders from being slouched over his work all day.

"That should do for now." He mumbled as he packed away his materials and went to leave the workshop room. Pushing a hand through his messy black hair, he grabbed the newly finished medicine and carried it with him from the basement lab.

The boy blinked as he walked out of the dimly lit basement and into the main office of the families workplace/house. Glancing out the window he saw that the sun was still up in the sky, so it couldn't have been that late. Probably not even six o'clock.

"Danny, did you finish up with, Izzy's prescription?" Jazz asked her younger brother as he stepped out of the study. Jasmine Fenton, or Jazz for short, had the same blue eyes as her brother, but her hair was a bright orange that was long enough to come down to the bottom of her back and needed a hair-band to be kept out of her eyes. She was two years her brother's senor, making her sixteen to his fourteen.

"Yeah, this should keep her going to the end of the month." Danny said as he placed the package down on the table.

Most people would be slightly disturbed by the fact that the local pharmacy was being ran by two kids, but in the small country village of Amity, there was no one else who could do the job. Not after the kids parents went to Central City four years ago to become State Alchemists and further their research, only to disappear the following year without a trace.

Jazz was the closest thing they had to a real doctor after having spent years studying it, so she would check on anyone in town who became ill and then have Danny use his Alchemy to produce the needed medicines.

"Well, at least we are ahead of schedule for once." Jazz said as she looked inside and counted the pills real quick. "Well, I'm going to start making dinner. Can you check on Danielle? You know how she gets when we are busy all day."

"Yeah." Danny said, feeling a sting of guilt. He had been spending far too much time with his Alchemy. He went up the stairs to the families actual living area. Turning to the right he stopped in front of a door with a sign on the front reading 'Danielle' with a picture of a smiling girl underneath it. Danny knocked on the door. "Little sis, little sis, can I come in?" Danny said.

"That depends, are you the big bad wolf?" A little girl's voice sad from the inside.

"Maybe..." Danny said playing at the same game they always did.

"Then I will not let you in." Danielle said in a playfully stubborn voice.

"Well the I will huff and I will puff..." Danny chuckled as he reached for the door handle. "I will will blow you door in!" He shouted as he pulled the door upon and rushed quickly into the room as Danielle let out a squeal of delight at the game. Danny smiled down at his little sister as she playfully batted away his hands as he moved to tickle her.

Danielle's looks took after their father, just like Danny's did, so the two siblings shared the same messy black hair and bright blue eyes. Danny ruffled her hair as she smiled up at him from her bed.

"How you holding up sport?" Danny asked as he pulled up a chair from her bed side.

"I'm alright." Danielle said as she pulled over a large sketch pad and showed her brother a picture of a dog she had been drawing earlier. She started babbling on about the made up story about the dog in the childish imagination that only the youngest and most bored of children had, and Danny smiled as he quietly listened.

But his eyes darted to the table side to make sure she had taken her medicine. She had, like a good girl, but her brother always did worry. He didn't want to know what would happen if she didn't. He could stand it if he lost her too.

Danielle was born very sick with a rare illness that slowly spread through her body, weakening the organs as it went until the body could no long function. The doctors from Central said that Danielle would never make it to her third birthday. They had even tried to pressure the Fenton parents to put the girl out of her misery.

But Jack and Maddie Fenton were nothing if not stubborn. They worked tirelessly researching all kinds of Alchemy and medicine, trying to find a cure. And just when things looked hopeless, they had a break through.

It was a medicine that halted the spread of the illness by paralyzing the damaged cells, and it was through this medicine that Danielle's life was spared. It was because of this medicine that she had managed to pass her tenth birthday, and was still holding strong.

But even so, it was not a true cure. Though the poor girl's condition didn't get any worse, she was still too weak to live a normal life, instead anchored to her bed, unable to go outside, to breath the open air and play in the grass like a normal child.

So Jack and Maddie continued to search for a true cure, expanding their research to cover more and more areas of Alchemy. Using their medical research, the two Fenton parents applied from State Alchemy licenses, so that they could have access to the national library.

Danielle had not been well enough to be moved. So Jack and Maddie had gathered together everything their kids would need to get by without them and taught Danny how to make his little sister's medicine before going on to Central.

At first they came to visit often enough, and even when they weren't visiting, they sent letters almost every day with funny stories or small gifts to help keep up their children's spirits. But then, one day, the letter stopped coming. It wasn't until a little while later that the children were told that their parents had disappeared without a trace.

Jazz came up stairs with some stew she had made for their dinner. They always ate in the Danielle's room, since she couldn't always get out of bed and they wanted to spend as much time with her as humanly possible.

Once they were done eating, Jazz would pull out one of the fairy tale books that Danielle liked so much and she and Danny would take turns reading to Danielle until the little girl went to sleep.

This night, the night that started everything, Danny was reading from Danielle's favorite book, 'The Princess of the East', a story from the country of Xing, beyond the Eastern desert. It was the last book that their parents had sent back too them before they had disappeared.

"...and they lived happily ever after. The end." Danny read off the final words before glancing up to see that his sister was fast asleep. Closing the book, he pulled her blanket up a little farther to keep her warm before grabbing the near empty stew and pitcher of water before heading out of the room, careful to not make a sound as he went.

His heart was heavy as he moved through the house. As much as he tried, he was not his parents. He tried to figure out the secrets of their research, he wanted to cure his sister, to see her running about and living her life to the fullest instead of stuck to a bed day after day. But he couldn't. He just wasn't good enough.

With his mind distracted and in the darkened hallway, he misjudged the width of the stairs and slipped falling down the last few and hitting his head, the crash of the breaking potty sounding through the house as the water and stew splashed across the floor.

"Owe." Danny mumbled as he pushed himself back up. Then his eyes found Danielle's book, all covered in water and stew. "Oh no no no." Danny said as he lifted the thing up and started trying to air it out, hoping that his sister's favorite book hadn't been ruined. But as he quickly tried to make sure that the water wouldn't cause the pages to bleed together he stopped.

Part of the inside cover of the book looked like it was pealing away and a much different kind of paper was inside of the fold.

Danny swallowed, hardly believing what he was seeing as he carefully pulled away the inside cover page to reveal a small pocket with a handful of pages stuck in it. Ever so carefully, Danny pulled the pages out, and opened them, reading down its contents.

They were alchemic formulas, ones like none that Danny had ever seen before. Several side notes were written in a sort of code that left Danny puzzled as too the meaning. The only bit he understood was a short note reading, "all you need is the flow of the dragon."

Danny thought back to the stories in Danielle's book. A flow of the dragon had been mentioned. It must have been the first clue to decipher the rest of the code. Perhaps all of the books they had sent were keys to the puzzle.

Danny flipped from page to page, hardly able to contain his excitement and disbelief. His parents had left something. He had no idea what it was or what it meant, but it was something. It could very well be the first step he needed to find the true cure for his sister's illness.

But when he reached the last page and found one final note, hurriedly scribbled down in his father's rough handwriting Danny's excitement left him as a numb feeling spread through his body.

"Jazz, Danny, Danielle. I hope that these pages reach you. Know that we love you. Beware the red water."

* * *

 **Everyone is still free to any of the idea's I put out. I claim rights to nothing.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

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Danny's body was trembling from anticipation as he struggled to steady his hands. He couldn't let any detail be off. Not even the slightest mistake. He wanted this experiment to go perfectly.

It had been three months since he had found out that his parents had been smuggling them copies of their work through the children's books that they sent for his little sister. He hardly slept at all since then, spending ever night working on deciphering them and studying them.

The information was more vast than he had ever hoped. Information about an entirely different form of alchemy that specialized in forms of medical practice. In the far East they called it Alkahestry. A form of Alchemy that used a concept called the 'Dragon's pulse' in order to transmit the energy needed to perform transmutation. Using that power to support the growth of tissue around a injury so that the wound could heal.

Sadly, such a technic could not be used to cure Dani's illness. Even if they tried to replace the damaged tissue, the new cells would also be diseased. But it had helped relieve some of the stress on the little girl's body, though even though she now had the strength to shift around in her bed or take herself to the bathroom, it wasn't enough for her to be able to go outside and live a normal carefree life.

However, Jack and Maddie had theories. Theories that bordered the tabooed act of human transmutation, the true creation of life. But rather than creating a new living creature from scratch, or reviving someone who was already died, the two older Fentons had tried to devise a way of reawakening dead cells to function the same way they did in live. So even if parts of the body succumb to decease or injure and stop functioning, the body as a whole could continue to survive.

The theory was straight forward, simple even, though in practice it had proven rather difficult. In Alchemy, transmutations do not last forever. The energy is gathered from the plates underneath the Earth's surface and used up. Much like a train, you have to stop eventually to gather more coal for the burners, and with how fast it goes through the energy, you won't be able to sustain it for long.

But that is not the case with Alkahestry. The flow of energy that is used in that art is everywhere and unending. If Alchemy's method of gathering energy is like burning coal, then Alkahestry's more like a water-mill.

There was another method given in the Fenton's notes, referred too as 'the Catalyst' method, but the details of it were sketchy at best. Not to mention the constant warning signs against using this method. Though the causes were not explained, the list of negative symptoms was a long one; including lose of mental stability in the subjects.

Danny had spent the last two months trying to perfect a transmutation circle for focusing the 'Dragon's Pulse' into dead tissue in order to restart the chemical cycles that supported life.

"Finished." Danny whispered to himself as he leaned back, his eyes flicking over every detail of the circle, searching for any mistake, but finding none.

The circle wasn't like any Danny had seen before, for there was a lot more to it then the beginning state and the end state. On the table before him was one large circle with three smaller circles overlapping inside of it, each with a different shape inside of it; a squire, and hexagon, and an octagon. The small details of the circles had taken Danny hours to complete, but it was finally finished. Now the only thing that remained was the test.

A chicken's heart. Something he managed to get from the night before's dinner. It was small, hardly even the size of Danny's thumb, but it would do for a test run. It was organic after all. He had used some ice Alchemy to slow the process of deterioration after death, so some of the cells were still alive, even though they were missing the nerve impulses that told it to beat.

Putting the heart in the center of the circle, Danny said one final prayer to any god that might be watching. Any god who would be willing to let it work. To let him help his sister to run through the fields of flowers when the spring comes.

He placed his hands one the edges of the circle and reached out, feeling for the Dragon's Pulse. Finding the flow of energy he pulled it into place and started the processes. The sparks of electricity danced along the circle and into the heart.

The whole thing only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. But as the light faded Danny closed his eyes in despair. The heart remained motionless. "No... please." Danny said as he searched through his mind, looking for what he did wrong, any detail he had missed.

Then, just before he decided to call it a night, an odd sucking sound reached his ears. Looking up he froze in place a smile spreading across his lips as he stared at the small chicken heart. With each second it pulsed again and again, trying to pump none existent blood through veins that weren't even there. Danny's eyes widened and a grin spread across his face.

"It works. It works..." He kept saying over and over again. Each beat, sending hope through his own heart. His sister would be able to live.

* * *

"Danny, I don't like it." Jazz said as Danny tried to convince her that he had find the cure for their little sister.

"Jazz, the experiment worked. I showed you. What more do you want?" Danny nearly shouted in frustration. Why didn't his sister see it for the miracle cure it was.

"Danny, you animated an inanimite object. Like how you did with Danielle's little stuffed animals last week to make them put on a play. There is a huge difference between a dead thing and a live thing." Jazz said, still unconvinced. "I know you think you figured it all out, but how many Alchemists have thought that they figured out Human Transmutation and died from the rebound."

"Jazz this isn't Human Transmutation. I'm not trying to make a soul. I'm not trying to bring back the dead." Danny argued.

"No, you are trying to steal time away from death." Jazz said.

"We're doctors! That's all we ever do! We do it all the time!" Danny shouted angrily. "Danielle could live. Really live. Not just be bed ridden for all her life!"

Jazz opened her mouth to argue, but a loud pounding on the door demanded her attention. The door opened to show Mr. Beans from a small farm a half mile away from their house. He was covered in sweat and gasping for air. "Th... The baby... coming." He managed. Not that he even needed to say it.

Jazz had already grabbed the bag full of the necessary tools and medicines for the job that had been sitting by the front door for the last two weeks incase the baby had come early. "Danny we will talk about this later." Jazz said as she followed Mr. Beans out the door, not even glancing back.

But her words fell on deaf ears. Danny knew that his theories would work. He knew he could save their little sister from a life in the upstairs bedroom, and if Jazz didn't want to help him, then he would do it on his own.

* * *

"Danielle, I need you to be a good girl and take this medicine." Danny said as he led some fast acting sleeping pills to her mouth.

"Alright." Danielle said as she took the pills and the glass of water. It was hardly even twenty seconds before she was yawning. "Danny, I'm tired."

"That's alright. You sleep. We can play when you wake up." Danny whispered as he brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Goodnight princess."

"Goodnight, you mean old wolf." Danielle said as she closed her eyes and was quickly asleep.

Danny wasted no time lifting his baby sister up and carrying her down the stairs. He was almost shocked by how light she was. He had already heard about the weight of a human life. So why was it that she was so light?

He knew that he was making a gamble, though it comforted him to know it wasn't his sister's life he was gambling with. If Jazz was right, and his theory was flawed, then the one who would pay the price, was Danny himself. A rebound of Human Transmutation was almost always fatal.

But Danny couldn't stop. He wanted his sister to be able to live life, happy and free, and for that he was ready to die.

The basement was already set up. The circle was ten times larger than it was when Danny had been testing it on the chicken heart. He had gone through all the calculations dozens of times, he knew that it would work. It had to.

Laying his sister in the center of the circle, he pulled out long thin needles that would help him focus the flow of energy and carefully put them in key points in his sister's back. The needles were so thin that his sister wouldn't even bleed from them being inserted. There would be no pain. He couldn't stand the idea of causing her pain.

Everything was set up, absolutely everything. "Please. Let it work." He whispered to himself. "Take whatever you want from me, just let it work."

He placed his hands on the edges of the circle and began to focus the energy into it, starting the transmutation. His heart lept when he saw the green lights dancing around the edge of the circle before being draw to the needles in Danielle's back. He could almost feel it working. But then something happened.

Mixed in with the green sparks of light were odd black ribbons. At first Danny thought that they were just a trick of the light, but then they started to reach out for him. He shivered and nearly lost his concentration as one of the ribbons touched his arm, but he pressed forward, unwilling to let his sister go now.

But they reached out to him, more and more until he couldn't see through the web of black claws. Dark red sparks of electricity covered them, sending Danny into unimaginable pain, but he refused to give up. Let these things take his life, if it meant his sister could live happy and free.

Then, he saw the eye. A giant, indescript eyeball that stared straight though him, judging the worth of his soul and the purity of his heart. Danny was to stunned to move, holding onto the transmutation circle for deal life. And then, everything was back.

* * *

Danny couldn't feel anything. He could see anything. He wasn't sure if he was anything.

A white, empty void stretched out all around him, as far as the eye could see. So vast that it left the boy feeling as if nothing had ever existed in the first place. How could it? When the universe was such an empty room.

But as he turned his head, he spotted something. A massive door, covered in strange symbols and formulas. He tried to focus on it. To absorb its existence, but he felt like for every symbol that he recognized, two more unknown symbols would be added to the door, and by the time he figured out those, he would have forgotten the first one. He felt his eyes strain, his head was throbbing and his ears pound from the pressure of his thoughts.

Finally, when he almost thought that his head would explode, a voice called him away from the door. "A puzzle isn't it." A bazaar echoing voice said.

Danny turned around to find a faded outline of a person sitting on the ground facing straight at him. The figure had no features. None at all, but even so, Danny felt like he recognized him, even though that was impossible.

"What's going on? What happened to my sister?" Danny asked, focusing his mind on what he had been doing before he had ended up in this place.

"Oh, so you managed to remember. I suppose it is because you didn't preform a true taboo. And yet, here you still are. This is what your own greed has earned you." The figure said.

"Greed?" Danny said confused.

"Of course. Your greed. The greed that drove you to commit this taboo." The shadow said with a laugh.

"It wasn't greed. I just wanted my sister to be happy." Danny said a little defensive, though he didn't know why.

"Oh real? Was it because you wanted your sister to be happy? Or was it because you wanted to get rid of the guilt of being unable to help her. The pain of watching her in her bed, day after day. Lie all you want about your motives, but I know." The figure laughed.

Danny trembled. "No. That isn't true!" He shouted. "Who do you think you are!? What gives you the right to say that!?"

"I'm glad you asked!" The figure shouted, clapping his hands. "Who am I? One name you might have for me is the world, or you might call me the universe, or perhaps God, or perhaps the Truth. I am All, and I am One. So, of course, this also means that I am you. I am the truth of your despair, the inescapable price of your guilt. And now, I will bestow upon you the despair you deserve."

He opened up his arms wide and Danny froze as he felt something grabbing hold of him. He barely had enough time to turn his head and see the gate opened behind him before he was pulled into it by the dark arms. The figure laughing as the door snapped shut behind him.

The images. Thousands upon thousands of images. Words, ideas, places, theories. They were pressed though Danny's mind as he was unable to close his eyes. So many things where sown to him. So many truths. Though from every one he was given, he gained new questions and new truths. So much knowledge that he thought his head would explode. Then he saw it, the end of the line, Danielle was standing up over him, pushing at his shoulders, begging for him to walk up. He reached out to her, trying to break through the film that separated them, and then right as his figures got close, it was over and he was back in front of the shadow.

"How was it?" The figure asked.

Danny stood there, and shook his head. He had seen enough. He knew what had happened. His test had broken the line between what was possible, but he had still done it at a price. His sister would be alive.

"Are we done?" Danny asked the figure.

"...Huh?" The shadow said.

"I've gone what I wanted. So what happens now?" Danny said again.

Truth started to laugh. "You know, you are the first alchemist that I have even known to not ask for more!" Truth said waving Danny away. "You can go. Right after you pay your toll."

Danny frowned, not understanding what the shadow meant, but then pain shot through his chest. He collapsed onto the ground, his hand going to the left side of his chest as the pain grew and grew. He felt something being torn out of him.

"You only wanted to help keep the heart of your loved one beating. This seems like the right toll." Truth said. Danny looked up to see the shadow holding something out in front of him. Though Danny's brain was having a hard time understanding what it was through the pain.

But then everything clicked. It was his still beating heart.


	4. Chapter 4

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

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The drumming of the rain on the paved roads filled Ed's ears and he sat on the stairs of central library. He and his brother, Al, had looked for hours but they hadn't found anything that could help. Nothing at all.

Some people thought that Alchemists were the closest things to gods. That their knowledge and power could do anything. If that was the case, then why? Why was it that with all of Ed's knowledge, he couldn't even save one little girl.

How on earth could that bastard do that. To his own daughter. Ed couldn't believe it.

No. He could believe it, and that made it even worse.

Shou Tucker, the Sewing Life Alchemist, a man who's entire life was built upon an act so horrible that it made Ed's stomach turn to just think about it. He had created a Chimera that could understand human language. A feet great enough to earn him a place among the State Alchemists. Only, he never told anyone how he did it.

His own wife. He used his own wife as an ingredient in his Alchemy, merging her with an animal in order to create a beast that could only beg for death. And for that horrible action, he was given three years of living the good life. Then when his time was coming to an end and the state demanded to see his progress, he went back to turn his own daughter, Nina, into a Chimera as well, fusing her with her own beloved dog Alexander.

There was no going back. Ed had tried and tried to find a way, but there was no helping the poor girl. He could only sit there in horror as the image of the smiling little girl with the twin brown braids twisted in his mind to become the sad beast that now took her place in the world.

"How long are you just going to sit there, Fullmetal." A ruff voice said behind the brothers. Ed turned to see his superior officer, Mustang, standing over him, his war veteran eyes held no pity for the boy in that darkest hour. "This is the world. Did you think it was going to be pretty? Are you going to give up on everything because of this?"

Ed gritted his teeth. "What is the point of continuing, when I can't even save one little girl." Ed said bitterly. He looked down at his hands, one of flesh, the other was cold hard metal. "People think we're gods, but we're only human. We hurt too."

"Shut up, and get inside. I can't exactly hand you research documents in the rain." Mustang said angrily, getting the brothers' attention.

"Research documents?" Al said confused.

The military man looked down at the two with his hard eyes. "Tell me, have you ever heard of the Frozen Death Alchemists?"

* * *

"Jackson and Maddilynn Fenton, aka the Frozen Death Alchemists, even though only Jackson ever actual registered as a State Alchemist. A little over three years ago they were at the forefront of all Bio Alchemy with a focus in medical Alchemy. Tucker was actually brought in as an attempt to fill the spot they left vacant when they vanished." Mustang said as the Elric brothers' eyes drank in the contents of the reports that he had given them. Each of them too focused to probably even hear him. "At one point in time they had theories about separating animals that had been fused together into chimeras. They managed to get the brass on top to agree to letting them do a trial experiment to see if they could manage it. Though they were only given one shot because it wasn't strictly in their research field."

"Says here that the experiment was met with mixed results. They managed to separate the consciousnesses of the animals involved, but the bodies ended up too unstable to support two separate beings and they both died after two days separated." Al said as he read off the results.

"But if you only were trying to save one of the minds, then there would be a chance that it would work." Ed said with a grin. But his grin fell as he went through more and more of the pages. "Hey what gives! None of their actual research is here! This is just reports!"

"I know. The Fentons and all of there work disappeared three years ago without a trace, save for their medical formulas and medicines." Mustang said, leaning back in his chair. "Officially they are listed as MIA, even though the time frame for that has elapsed a long time ago. No one knows what happened to them. They were liked well enough as doctors, even if no one could stand to be in the same room as them for more than a minute, but foul play is always a possibility. Some think that they just ran off. I doubt it though, since they never reunited with their family. Personally, I think they crossed the line, if you know what I mean." Mustang said tapping on his arm to indicate Ed's own metal arm.

Ed frowned. "You think they would?"

"You remind me of them. Having more faith in your skills than sense in your head. Not to mention they also had this way of annoying the shit out of me every time I tried to give them some advice. I wouldn't put it past them to try something that crossed the line." Mustang said.

Ed shrugged off the insult. "How does this help us? I thought you were going to give us something useful! Not bore us about your old stories!"

"I have you little brat!" Mustang shouted at the boy before regaining his cool. "Word through the grape vine says that the Fentons had three children, two girls and a boy, they would never shut up about them. The kids didn't live in central with them though, since the youngest daughter was too sick to be moved. Supposedly the son is some kind of protege in the field of medical Alchemy, not too dissimilar to yourself."

"You think he knows how to separate Nina and Alexander?" Al asked hopefully.

"No idea, but it is the only lead you got at the moment." Mustang said waving the kids off. "They live in a town called Amity. You go there and ask them yourselves if you want. I've already used up enough of my time."

"Yeah yeah, come on Al, we need to move fast! The last trains will be leaving soon!" Ed said as he bolted out of the door, the Fenton report still in hand.

"Hey that report! You aren't allowed to keep that!" Mustang shouted but it was too late, the kids were already gone. "Jeez." He grumbled, leaning back in his chair. "Stupid brats."

"You're worried about them, aren't you." lieutenant Hawkeye said as walked into Mustang's office.

Mustang's head dropped into his hands and he gave a short sigh. "I'm the one who brought them into this. Of course I am." His eyes looked so much more tired know that only his lieutenant was there to see them. "To live in this country really is a burden."

* * *

 **I did a shitty job here introducing characters, trying to focus on tone, character interaction, and plot instead, but I don't really care. All you nerds know who these people are. So I won't lose sleep over it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

Pain... so much pain. His muscles all screamed in confusion as each and every part of his body tensed in shock from the storm of pain that was surging inside of him. His teeth were clenched tight, stopping the scream that wanted to burst from his lungs, turning it into several short gasps of agony.

"Danny! Danny!" A child's voice called out again and again. Through all his pain, he could just barely feel the tiny hands pushing against his arm. His ears were ringing as his head felt like it would split in two.

He turned his head towards the sound, forcing his eyes to open. The first thing he saw was a river of green and bluish white light, so blinding that he had to pull his eyes shut again but as he focused he could see through this light and saw the face of his baby sister, Danielle nearly over him, her face covered in tears. But she was up. She was supporting herself and moving about. Strong green light surrounded her chest, Danny could see it moving pumping through her like a heart beat. He could feel that she was stronger, that she was better now.

So why was she crying? His mind was to blinded by the pain to figure it out. He forced a smile onto his face struggling to reach out towards her, but his arms won't move, and when he finally managed to pry open his own jaws, only a scream exited his mouth.

"Danny... I... I can't find your pulse." Jazz's voice said as she entered his vision. "What have you done?" Danny couldn't answer. The pain was too much. He couldn't even thing clearly. His arm managed to come free and he reached out to his sister, but stopped when he saw his own arm, it was covered in the green light, every single cell completely bursting with that energy, the pain in his body pulsating with the light that know moved through his veins.

He opened his mouth again and the scream continued unchecked, pushing through his entire body as he lost himself in the pain.

* * *

Danny's eyes shot open as his teeth clenched. It had just been a dream, but the pain was really. Gasping to control himself, he reached out with trembling arms to his bedside table, for the bottle of medicine for the pain.

Pulling the bottle too him he struggled with the stopper. "Come on..." He gasped before another violent shiver moved though his body and the bottle slipped through his fingers to fall the the floor, cracking the glass so that small drops of the liquid slipped out as the bottle rolled away leaving a small trail of the blue substance stuck to the floor.

Danny reached out towards it as it went, his mind to numb from pain to think clearly as he fell from the bed to crash on the floor with a thud. Silently cursing, Danny tried to pull himself towards the bottle, but the pain was making it hard to coordinate his body. He closed his eyes hard to try to clear his head, and when he opened them up he found his older sister standing over him, the bottle opened and a spoon full of the medicine in front of his lips.

The stuff tasted awful, but it was better than the sweets nectar to Danny as he felt the pain in his throat disappearing as the stuff slowly moved down into his stomach. Slowly, very slowly, the pain started to fade. Never fully disappearing, but fading to the point were Danny could almost ignore it.

"Thanks." Danny said as he finally regained control of himself enough to push himself up.

"Danny, are you ok?" Jazz asked, even though she knew the answer.

Danny tried to smile. "I'll be alright as soon as the medicine finishes kicking in." He said, trying to stand up, though his knees weren't as certain as he was. "Can you go and get Danielle to help you with breakfast. I'll be down as soon as I'm ready."

He didn't want his baby sister to see him like this. He didn't want anyone to see him like this. Weak from the pain, unable to take it anymore. He could see the worry in Jazz's eyes. The knowledge that now, he was the burden on her.

"Alright. Just try to hurry." Jazz said before giving her brother a quick squeeze and leaving the room.

Danny sat on the edge of his bed, trying to regain control of his breathing, until his eye caught his reflection in the mirror in the corner of the room. It had been three weeks since he had managed to cure his little sister, and in that time he had changed.

Truth had taken something from him. Something he shouldn't have been able to survive without; his own heart. The organ was gone, he didn't know how it had happened, but Truth had taken his toll.

But even without his heart to pump blood through his body, Danny Fenton did not die. The same Alchemy that had corrected his sister's weakening body had been burned into him. Each and every cell in his body being kept going as the dragon's pulse was pressed through him. An endless transmutation that kept him alive, in a constant state of pain. The feeling of a transmutation being done on the cellular level was as painful as a high voltage electrocution. Without his medication, Danny couldn't even stand.

His body had been changed by it. The pigment had been burned out of his hair, leaving it starch white, his skin had darkened as if he was getting a constant tan from the alchemy burning his skin. But the thing that got to him most was his own eyes. The blue pigment had been burned away, so his eyes should have been red, the color of his blood. Only they weren't, they were bright green almost glowing with the light that came from the Transmutation that kept him alive and moving. Truth had not been kidding when he said that Danny would be given the despair he had earned.

He had wanted his baby sister to be strong enough to no long need to constantly take medicine to stop from dying. And now he himself was the one dependent on medicine. Poetic justice.

Though when Danny finally did manage to get full control over himself and went downstairs, he couldn't help but think that the entire thing was worth it as he saw his sisters standing in front of the stove, Jazz's hands wrapped around Danielle's and she helped the little girl flip pancakes. Danielle's laughter as she finally managed to catch one.

If Truth thought that it had been equivalent exchange, then Danny had to disagree. He came out ahead.

* * *

 **FUCK!**

 **This is what happens when you watch too much 'House'. I guess Danny will just have to be popping pain killers for the rest of the story.**

 **PS as of right now, the review system seems to be not working right. I'm sure it just has something to do with new years and that it will be solved later, but I'm just saying that I won't be responding to messages if you ask a question.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

Edward Elric grumbled in annoyance as he felt something pushing up against him in his sleep. "Ed, come on, you need to wake up already." Alphonse's voice echoed the same way it always had from his metal body. He must have been the one trying to wake Ed up.

"Come on, just give me five more minutes, Al." Ed said trying to roll over away from his brother.

"You said that five minutes ago, and now we are at the station, we have to get off." Al said as he actually grabbed his elder brother and lifted him up off of his seat on the train.

Ed's eyes shot open with surprise as he felt himself being lifted into the air. "Hey what gives!" He shouted, struggling against the grip of his armored suit of a brother.

"We've reached Amity Park, you slept the entire train ride there." Al said as he opened the first class compartment that the title of State Alchemist had gotten them before dropping his older brother out side of it. Ed was still only half away, but his years of training kicked in and he landed on his metal arm, pivoting to lightly push himself to his feet.

"Amity Park..?" Ed said, slightly confused until the memories of the day before caught up with him. A serous expression passed over his face as everything clicked. "Alright lets go!" He said, running off head with his brother right behind him.

They exited the train and out into the early night. The air had that light feel to it of a young night, just after the sun had finished setting. Couldn't have been later than eight. The street lamps were still going and the number of people still on the sidewalks minding their own business was credit to how peaceful a town it must be.

"Wonder what these people've got in their closets." Ed mumbled as they walked into the streets past a couple making small talk with a street vender, laughing with a cheer that rubbed the State Alchemist the wrong way.

"Do you always have to assume the worst of people?" Alphonse said critically.

"Only until the world proves me wrong." Ed said with a shrug. "No place is perfect. One or two people might be good, but get enough of them together, and the law of large numbers practically guarantees that someone is rotten."

"That isn't what the law of large numbers is and you know it." Al said with a metallic sigh. Then the metal man stood up right, looking around. The town wasn't large, but it was large enough that someone could get lost in it. "How exactly are we supposed to find the Fentons anyways."

"No idea. Suppose we'll do what we always do. Walk around town until something bad happens and then latch ourselves onto whoever looks like they know something." Ed said putting his hands behind his head. "Its a tried and tested method that has worked for us so far, don't see why we should change it now."

Al sighed. "You know, for once I would rather us to ask for directions instead of just stumbling onto a situation."

"Oh come on, just running into things isn't that bad." Ed said with a shrug.

"Last time we ended up being chased around town by a bunch of gunslinging priest and a mad cult!" Al objected. "Listen, you don't even have to be the one to do it. I'll ask for directions." The metal man looked around and spotted a girl leaning up against a wall near a clothing store. She wasn't tall, just an inch or two taller than Ed. Her black hair was done up in a small ponytail on top of her head and her crossed arms were not exactly inviting.

This aside, Al still went up to her, his older brother tagging along behind him, mumbling about not needing stupid directions. "Excuse me, Ms." Al said getting the girls attention. She turned towards them, her dark purple eyes looking over the two brothers, then a frown passed over her face.

"What are two military dogs like you doing here?" Her confrontational voice surprised the brother, almost as much as what she said.

"You know who we are?" Ed said with a raised eye brow.

"A small blond boy in a red coat with an automail arm and his younger brother who always wears a large suit of metal armor. You're the Elric brothers. Meaning you're the Fullmetal Alchemist." The girl said, glaring at Ed.

"Hey who you calling small!" Ed shouted, his insecurity about his size overwhelming his sense at the moment.

"They say that you're a 'Alchemy for the people', but I call that military propaganda bullshit. The big wigs just wanted a cute face to make people think that maybe the military isn't a bunch of amoral thugs." The black haired girl scoffed at the two brothers, leaving them confused.

"Well... this is a first." Ed said, scratching his head. "Someone who actually recognizes our description. Can't say this has ever happened before. And a realest too. You were right Al, this asking directions thing works wonders."

"Ed, don't say things like that." Al said, still hoping to recover the situation. "Please, we don't want any trouble. We're just trying to find where the Fentons live."

"What..?" The girl said flatly, and if they thought her expression was aggressive before, it was completely hostile now. A memory of their own Alchemist teacher when she was mad flashed into the boys' heads, making them flinch.

Before the brothers could even think, a combat boot smashed into the plate right between Al's legs, sending the surprised metal man to fall to the ground, glad that he couldn't actually feel the pain in that area anymore. "Al!" Ed said, turning to check on his brother only to receive a strong right hook to the gut, followed by a left one to the face, sending him to the ground.

"You stay the hell away from them!" The girl shouted as she seemed to tower over them, momentarily making them forget their combat training. "The military already took Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, and we won't let them have Danny too!"

"Hey, we aren't here to take anyone away!" Ed said a hand to his injured cheek. "We just need to ask them some questions!"

"Like I'd believe that! Give me one good reason why we should trust the military!?" The girl shouted down at them again. She aimed a kick for the older brother's face, but Ed managed to catch the blow this time.

"We aren't here for the military! We need the Fentons' research in order to save a little girl's life!" Ed shouted back before he let her foot go. The girl seemed to deflate a little at those words. "Think whatever you want about me, I don't care. But we aren't leaving without a way to get Nina better."

The girl was glaring down at them as if trying to decide what to do. But it seemed like her choice was made for her when someone shouted out from inside the store. "Samantha! Where are you sweetie!? You simply must try on some of these dresses!"

The girl visible paled and quickly turned away from the door. "Come on. I'll show you the way to Fenton Works, but I've got my eye on you, and if you try something then you will both have an imprint of my combat boot in your skulls." She growled at them.

The two brothers had gotten back up. "Thank you for your help Samantha." Al said, bowing a little to the girl, only to receive another death glare.

"Call me that again and you're dead. My name's Sam Manson, now get a move on it." Sam said before walking as fast as she could without drawing attention to herself away from the clothing store and whatever horrors had lay within it.

* * *

 **A small intro for Sam and a transition for Ed and Al to actually get to FentonWorks.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

"And then the wicked witch fell. She fell down and down and down into the rift in the earth, dying on the sharp rocks below..." Danny read quietly to his little sister as lay in her bed, ready to go to sleep. He supposed that even with her vitality restored, she was still just a little girl and wanted her bedtime stories. "The princess woke up, seeing the prince who had come to save her from the poisoned curse, and they fell in love at first sight. The two would bring about a new age of prosperity for the kingdom, and everyone lived happily ever after. The end."

Danny's eyes went to Danielle's sleeping face as he finished the story. He smiled as he put down the book and reached for the lights. "Sweet dreams, Princess." Danny said, brushing her hair back and kissing the girl on the forehead.

It wasn't until Danny was out in the hallways that he let a small gasp of pain exit his lips. Reaching into his over shirt's inner pocket, he grabbed a bottle of his medicine and measured out a half a cap full and poured it down the hatch.

He waited a few seconds, catching his breath before walking for the stares back down to were Jazz was taking inventory of their medical stocks. It was a monthly thing they did in order to see what Danny would need to make more of. There was only one problem.

Even with his medicine, his hands were made too unsteady by the dull throbbing pain. He couldn't work with the accuracy needed to create several of his the medicines. Some of his old circles could be reused, but only a certain number of times before they themselves started to wear down and couldn't be trusted anymore.

"How bad is it?" Danny asked, almost too worried to ask.

Jazz sighed. "It isn't so bad. Most of what the town uses on a normal bases we had stocked up on. If we are lucky we have enough for three months before we will need to start worrying." Jazz said, pushing the sheet back. "But if we get hit by a single flu epidemic, we'll be sunk."

Danny's mouth twitched. They were the only doctors that Amity Park had. If they couldn't provide for the town than things could get messy fast. Amity Park wasn't a large city, but it was densely populated enough for decease to spread fast if left unchecked. Danny had once seen someone die from a breach of the stript throat virus because it was untreated for too long. The man died drowning in his own blood and puss and he tried to both throw up the stuff clogging his throat and bring in air at the same time. It was bloody, horrible, and anything but quick and painless.

"So much for happily ever after." Danny mumbled to himself before turning to go towards the lab.

"Where are you going?" Jazz asked, worry written on her face.

"I need to at least try to make something. I can't just quit." Danny said simply.

Jazz sighed. "Alright, but remember that you need some sleep too. You're still pretty young you know?"

"So are you." Danny chuckled as he went down the stairs into the basement.

* * *

Danny held his breath, trying to keep his hand as steady as possible as the metallic ink in his pen was being moved across the paper. The small symbols being added to the inner circles to control the permutation of the different minerals. Something that required at least 99% accuracy.

But just as Danny was half way done, a small pulse of pain caused his hand to shake just slightly, leaving a small unwanted mark on the page. Danny growled as he dropped the pan, covering his eyes in frustration. "This is impossible." He said. He was tired. Spiritual tired. His worries were starting to stack up and he wasn't sure what he could do.

He was pulling his hands down from his face, over the bridge of his nose and clasped them together in front of him. His mind was filled with thoughts about the circle he was trying to make, each step, each and every detail, the nature of the paper and the ink, the rates at which the ink would dry. Everything about it.

Then, something happened. He could see the energy in the air air gathering around his hands. He couldn't explain it, but for some reason they were drawing in the energy from the earth the same way a Transmutation circle would.

It was odd, ever since he had seen 'Truth' and his body had been changed, he had been able to see the flow of the Dragon's Pulse with his eyes. The vivid green and blue lights had been confusing at first, but over time, he had learned to just look past them. But now the lights were gathering around his hands, blues and greens mixing together into a bright white light. The light of Alchemy.

In a sudden moment of realization, he lowered his hands down onto the paper and as the sparks of a true transmutation began to fly, his eyes widened. The lines faded into being as the lights danced across the paper, as if being written in by an invisible brush.

As the light faded, Danny looked down at his hands in astonishment. But the light was gone from them. Frowning, he tried to focus on the circles and processes that would be needed to make his medicines. Focusing harder and harder, trying to get a reaction. But he got nothing.

Clenching his teeth, he tried to remember what he had been doing before it had happened, but was coming up with a blank. Finally, getting a bit frustrated he started to reach out to the ribbons of energy in the Dragon's Pulse, as if trying to grab a hold of the power. Though it was like trying to capture the wind, pointless and stupid. Though it did lead to his discovery.

When he tried to clap both hands around a ribbon, the light reacted as soon as his hands met. The bright glow returning. Before it was gone, he concentrated on the formulation of an easy antibiotic and put his hands down around the needed materials. And just like before the transmutation began, without a drawn circle.

"I don't believe it." Danny said before clapping his hands again and trying another more complex formula. And then another. And another. He was performing Alchemy without the use of a circle.

It was a miracle.

* * *

Jazz was drinking some herbal tea when a familiar knock came to the door, one average hit followed by three light hits then by two harder ones. She almost rolled her eyes at the childish rhythm to it. It was the 'secret knock' that Danny and his best friend Sam had made up as little kids, insisting that it was a secret even though both Jazz and Danielle knew perfectly well about it.

"Wonder why drove her here this time, mother hosting a tea party." Jazz said, though she was a little glad to have the younger girl around. She couldn't force Danny to talk to her, but he needed someone around who he felt he could talk to, or someone like Sam who won't take no for an answer. Opening the door Jazz gave a cheerful smile. "Hello Sam, what brings you today?" The smile turned to a bit of confusion when she saw two odd people standing behind the girl. "Friends?" She asked.

"Hardly, State Dogs that want to talk to Danny. I'm just here to keep an eye on them." The girl said, as if she had the power to beat them both down. Confidences had never been something that Sam Manson was lacking.

If only Jazz was so sure of herself. She looked over at the two in a new light. 'State Dogs' could only mean one thing, State Alchemists. And if Danny had caught there attention... Things could be very bad for what was left of the Fenton family.

"I'm sorry that it's so late, but we kind of have a situation, and we need your parent's research as fast as possible." The smaller of the two said. He didn't look like the military type. He was small, with blond hair in a long braid and a red coat, she could have sworn he was only twelve or thirteen years old, but his voice was that of an older boy and his gold eyes had a unsettling look about them.

"Come in." Jazz said, stepping aside. Less because she wanted them in her house than because it wasn't safe to turn them out. With their parents disappearance, they could be convicted of abandoning their country and then their children could end up losing the house all all of there parents assets. It won't be the end of the world, since several people in town would be willing to put them up. But it was still be heartbreaking to lose their childhood home.

After they got inside the small boy reached into his pocket and pulled out the silver watch of a State Alchemist. "I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. This is my younger brother Al." The boy said gesturing to the large suit of armor.

"What!? He's the little brother?" Jazz said actual shocked enough to forget to be plight.

"And what is that supposed to mean!? You think I'm a shrimpy little pipsqueak don't you!?" Ed shouted only to be smacked on the head by Sam with enough force to ground him.

"Show some restraint while you are in someone else's home, midget." Sam practically growled, silencing the boy.

"Um... we've heard that your brother is a talented Bio Alchemist. Could we please speak to him. It's really important." The suit of armor said. Though he was large, nearly six feet tall, his voice was that of a smaller child.

"Alright." Jazz said stiffly before going to the basement door. "Danny! Could you come up here for a minute!"

"Sure thing!" An excited voice answered.

* * *

The Elric brothers had not been sure what they were expecting from the Fenton boy, but his appearance alone was enough to surprise them.

His hair was completely white, not the silver of an elderly person, or the steel gray of the Ishvalans, there was a complete lick of color to it, similar to an albino's. But his skin was a deep tan, like the people from the eastern edge of the country who had to deal with the desert heat, so he wasn't albino. And he didn't have the eyes of a Ishvalan either. His eyes were a startling shade of green, like nothing the boys had ever seen before.

As he exited his basement his whole body language just screamed excited, though some bads under his eyes made him looked rather tired. "Jazz you aren't going to..." He started when he noticed Sam and their guests. "Sam... who's the company?" He asked confused.

"State Alchemist." Sam said drily. "Fullmetal, and his younger brother in a tin can."

"Oh." Danny said, looking straight at them. Ed got an uncomfortable feeling from the boy's eyes. Like they were looking straight through him. A mixture of expressions were going through the boy's face as he looked at the Elric brothers, but the one that stood out the most was the one that Ed didn't understand. Pity.

"I know its rather late and all, but we were wondering if you won't mind sharing with us any of the information you know about one of your parents experiments." Ed said, trying to play off his discomfort with his bad cop routine. "The one about separating a Chimera. We know you've got it. And we were hoping you would be nice enough to give it to us."

Danny looked at them for a few seconds and sighed. "Just go home. Go home and give up this mad quest." He said in a flat tone of voice.

"Wha?" Ed said, not really expecting that.

"What do you mean mad quest? We read the reports, the experiment almost worked." Alphonse said. "Please, we really need that research notes."

"Is this about Equivalent Exchange? If you want something from us for it then just name it." Ed said, feeling a bit of desperation. He had to get that info to save Nina.

"Equivalent Exchange? There is nothing that you can give that is of equal value to it." Danny said, looking down at the ground. "How could you have seen it and still be trying to find a way." Danny said, shaking his head. "There is no secret to it. There is no small piece that you are missing that will make it work. It is just something that shouldn't be done."

Ed growled at the slightly younger boy. "And what is that supposed to mean!?"

Danny looked over at him and the next words made Ed freeze. "Is a human soul really only worth an arm and a leg." Danny said. The Elric brothers felt too shocked to even think. "I'm not judging you. But I'm not going to help you try to preform Human Transmutation. Just give up on getting your brother's life back and be happy that you at least have his soul with you. I'm surprised you even managed to get that much back."

"Wait a second, you mean that he..!?" Sam's voice dropped off as she connected the dots.

"We learned our lesson. We aren't about to try that again." Edward said, not even bothering to deny his crime. "But that isn't why we are here. We're here to try to save a little girl's life." Danny blinked not sure if the boy was telling the truth or not. "Shou Tucker, the Sewing Life Alchemist, he is now in prison for transmuting his own four year old daughter along with their dog into a Chimera."

There were gasps of disgust. "Please. If there is any hope to help her get back to normal we have to take it. She was innocent. She doesn't deserve to live a life of pain because of Alchemy." Al said, putting his hands together in a sort of beg.

Danny thought about it. He thought about what he would be willing to give up if it had been Danielle. "Even if I gave you the research, you won't be able to do it." Danny said shaking his head. "You use none organic Alchemy. It is very different from Organic Alchemy, and Alchemy involving the consciousness is even more convoluted." He looked up at the angry Edward who was about to shout at him. "Can you bring the girl and a copy of the circle that this Tucker guy used here?"

The anger dropped out of Edward's face. "Wait, do you mean you'll help us!?" Edward said.

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Why is that so surprising? Alchemy was meant to help people. So if I can help, I will. Though I can't risk the wrong people getting there hands on the research. Messing around with souls is dangerous."

"Im not sure if it is safe to move her." Al said sadly. "As it turns out, Tucker was not that skilled of an Alchemist. Nina is not entirely stable, and she is in constant pain. Transporting her here is not an option. You would have to come with us to the Eastern Command."

Danny's mouth twitched. "Um, we are kind of the only doctors in this town. So going all the way to Eastern Command is a little far."

"We can have temporary replacements sent down here if you need it." Edward said, throwing around his power as a State Alchemist. "Everything should be fine for a week or two." Danny was trying to think about it when Jazz spoke up.

"Alright, we'll do it." Jazz said glancing at her brother's surprised face. "Danielle is finally well enough to travel about. I think it is long past time we took a vacation." Jazz said with a smile. "If you want to go and help these people, then we will all go together."

"Count me in. I'm not sticking around here if you guys leave. Someone needs to keep an eye out for you." Sam said, pushing her way in.

"Please..." Alphonse said again. Danny looked around at all of them and sighted.

"I'll start packing." He said, realizing he was out voted. And what was the harm in going and helping some people for a week anyways?

* * *

 **Oh, seriously, how long is the viewing reviews problem going to last? New years is over.**

 **(sigh) So Danny will be able to do Alchemy without a circle, but his true talent is yet to be introduced.**

 **I think I had him seeing the light of the Dragon's Pulse before, but I never actual said what it was.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

"Um... hi." Danny said nervously as he was glared down at by the more than a little intimidating military officer. Colonel Roy Mustang was looking down at him with an unimpressed expression that was putting Danny on edge.

So this was what meeting new people was like. Man was it scary. In a town like Amity, it wasn't that hard to be familiar with just about everybody, especially when your the only doctors in town. So Danny couldn't remember the last time he met someone new, unless you counted the newborn babies that Jazz had to deliver from time to time.

"So you are Daniel Fenton. I suppose your fathers stories about you being a spitting image of him must have been just another one of his delusions." Mustang said as he sat back, his eyes going to Ed and Al. The Elric brothers had taken Danny to Mustang while Danielle, Jazz, and Sam went sight seeing. Something Danny wished he was doing at the moment, if only to get away from this man. A pale light like blue fire flickered around him in Danny's eyes as the colonel strummed his figures against the table. He had used so much Alchemy that it's presence followed him wherever he want. "Fullmetal, would you mind explaining why you brought a civilian to my office? You do realize I am a busy man."

"Bullshit!" Ed shouted crossing his arms. "When was the last time you did anything? You're job gives you so much free time you personally interfered with your units love lives for kicks."

"Shut up! I told you it was for moral reasons!" Mustang shouted at the boy suddenly seeming a lot more like a child than a military officer, leaving Danny dazed and confused. "Besides, I have been busy." Mustang said, leaning back in his chair again. "Just after you left, Shou Tucker's holding area was broken into and the former Sewing Life Alchemist was murdered." Both Danny and Al gasped, murder being a rather strong word. "We are trying to track the killer right now, but we aren't having any luck. Eye witnesses said that it was a man with an 'X' shaped scar across his face."

Ed took a moment to recover before swearing. "Dammit, bastard couldn't live a few more days." He said angrily as his eyes turned to Danny. "You're still going to be able to help Nina even without his information right?"

"I... I don't know." Danny admitted. "Most of the recovery process relies on knowing just what the formula for creating the Chimera was, otherwise important genes can be lost during the three stage and she could end up without a vital protein and die. How good were his research notes?" Danny asked, looking towards Mustang.

"That would be classified." Mustang said.

"You asshole!" Ed shouted, slamming his hands on the table.

"Regardless how we feel about this, this is not a government project you are working on, and Shou Tucker's research was classified government property. We can't disclose it to a civilian. It's against the rules." Mustang said, his voice was unfeeling. "However... it is hard to enforce these rules when the officer in charge of the research materials is the one showing it. After all, it isn't like we can just follow all of our men around twenty-four seven." Mustang said, pulling out a sheet of paper and placing it on the table. "By the way, Fullmetal, you have been placed in charge of taking stock of Shou Tucker's research materials. And try to do a good job. Most of the old records are iffy at best so if something goes missing it would be impossible to find it."

Ed blinked in surprise before grabbing the paper with a short grumble. "You know you could just admit you are going to help us instead of making us sit through this bullshit."

"I deny have any idea what you are on about." Mustang said before tossing Ed a pair of keys. "You will need the keys to Tucker's old mansion, since that is were his research is. Fenton can us the place as his home base while he's in town. With an entire library in the basement and all the research materials he could want, I'm sure his little project won't find anything lacking." Mustang turned his chair around. "Now are you going to stand there all day wasting my valuable time, or are you going to help that little girl?"

"Fine! We'll get going, colonel cranky." Ed said as he turned and motioned for Danny and Al to follow.

"Are... are they always like that?" Danny asked nervously.

"Pretty much." Al admitted with a short sigh. "You get used to it."

* * *

Edward felt sick to his stomach as he looked in at all the Chimeras that Tucker had created. It was... awful. He remembered seeing them for the first time just a few weeks ago. Thinking that it was amazing the things that could be done with Bio Alchemy. What an idea he felt like now. He was like a caveman being excited by fire, and learning the real horror of it when it burned down an entire forest.

Then again, wasn't all Alchemy like that? With Metal Forming Alchemy you could do all sorts of wondrous things, create toys, lights, and all sorts of tools with the snap of a finger. But it could also be used to create cannons that would blow a town to pieces. The Ishvalan conflicts showed them that much, when State Alchemists were used as weapons of war and completely destroyed everything that got in their path.

And he was supposed to take stock of this stuff? Suddenly, Mustang's favor didn't seem like much of a favor.

He heard footsteps on the stone floors as Danny walked out, not looking too happy.

"Did you find what you needed?" He asked hopefully.

Danny shook his head. "He didn't leave any notes. Most likely so that he wouldn't be caught." Danny said miserably. "I've got the Transmutation circle he used, but it will take a bit to reverse engineer it... like three years." Danny mumbled the last part, but still Ed heard him.

"Three years!" Ed shouted, his eyes bugging out. Nothing in his branches of Alchemy ever took more than a few months to make.

Danny winced at the older boy's shout before nodding. "Each of the genetic traits are forced into a co-dependence system, with undesirable genes are then turned off by a modification in the equilibrium relation. And without knowledge of which genes came from were, I won't be able to safely take them apart."

"You're saying... it can't be done." Ed said angry with his own helplessness.

Danny closed his eyes thinking hard. "All human DNA is 99.9 percent similar." He mumbled, getting Ed's attention. "If I can separate the overlaps and use a normal humans as a base for an entirely new structure. I should be able to sort out the remaining traits and figure out how to separate them that way."

Edward held his breath. "And how look would that take?"

Danny closed his eyes. "Average number of inconsistencies and mutations... and the preparation time... If we're lucky, four days. Unlucky, three weeks."

"Then you better get working! What do you need!?" Ed said, excitement starting up as he finally had something more than just unconfirmed hopes.

"Well for starters we're going to need some of Nina's blood. And some human blood." Danny said. Edward immediately paled.

"Hu...human blood you say..." He stammered, his personal hate object, the needle, flashing in his head.

"Yeah." Danny said before noticing the older boy shaking a little. "Preferably female." Ed gave a sigh of relief, realizing the needle won't be for him. "The rest of the measuring bases are already down it the lab. I can start on the first cycle as soon as I get the blood."

"Alright!" Ed shouted. "I think Lieutenant Hawkeye is still out front with the car! I'll get her right away!" Ed shouted, bolting out the door as fast as he could, leaving Danny standing in the room along.

Danny gasped moving to the wall and pulling out his small canteen of medicine, bringing it to his lips as he gave into the pain for a few moments. "I can't let this slow me down." He said as he pushed himself off the wall and clapped his hands together.

Placing his palms on the ground, he willed the needed transmutation circle for the experiment into existence, edging the circle into the ground as if it had been caved into the stone by a knife.

He had reclaimed his sister's life. Now it was time to fix another's.

* * *

 **So... does Nina being brought back by using Hawkeye's blood as a base make Hawkeye her new mommy? Ah whatever.**

 **Yes I pull 90% of this stuff out of my ass, what of it?**

 **I've been writing on this site of a little over 13 months now... I've been here too long.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

"Big brothers..?" The Chimera that was Nina said in a slow deep voice as it looked up at him with eyes glazed over with confusion. Neither the nature of the four year old girl and the nature of the loyal house dog could understand or accept what had happened to them. "What... is lady... doing?"

Her body was huge, her head was up to Ed's chest when she was sitting up, the milky white fur on her body looked rather shaggy and the more human like brown hair on her head grew out in a wild man. Her eyes were blank and unfocused as they had always been. But at least she wasn't shivering in pain anymore since Jazz had given her some medicine for the pain that came from the fact that human's and animal's were never meant to be put together. Though Ed insisted it was because Tucker had been a shitty Alchemist, blaming him for every smallest road block they came across. It made it easier to not blame himself that way.

"Don't worry Nina. She's just trying to help you. You'll be good as new in no time." Al said as he reached out metal hand to pet the girl's head.

"Brother Al..." Nina said, pushing her head into his hand.

"I'm going to put her under now. After that we can bring her down to the lab." Jazz said as she started to move a modified muzzle of sorts that would feed the Chimera girl knockout gas, just enough to keep her under.

Danny's research had gone faster than he had expected, and after just three days he had both finished his tests and prepared the transmutation circles that would separate the dog from the girl. He even had tested the theories about splitting Chimeras on one of the creatures in the basement and it had ended in a success.

"Be a good girl Nina. We'll all be playing together tomorrow, once you wake back up." Ed said, his heart getting caught in his throat as he rubbed the bottom of the girl's neck while Nina breathed in the gas.

"Have... play... big brother...Ed..." Nina said as her eyes started to drift close and she hand went to the ground.

After moving Nina to the lab, both brothers were quickly removed from the room. It was for the best. They were squeamish at the sign of blood that wasn't their own. "We'll do everything we can. So don't worry." Jazz said, trying to give the Elric brothers some more confidence before closing the door on them.

If they were going to do this, they would need to work quickly.

* * *

After being hurried out of the lab, both Ed and Al walked around town aimlessly before finding themselves sitting on the library stairs.

"Hey Ed." Alphonse said after they had been sitting there for a few minutes.

"We really haven't grown up at all have we?" Ed said, guessing what his brother was thinking.

"Back when we were kids, we were always pushed out of the house whenever the Rockbells were checking on mom too." Al said remembering those days.

"We would sit on the front porch stairs all day mopping about how we couldn't make her feel better." Ed said, tilting his head back to look up at the sky. Clouds were coming in. It looked like there was going to be rain. "I guess we really are just as powerless as we were back then."

"I guess so." Al said, his armor rattling a little as he gave something halfway between a chuckle and a sob. "I hope she'll be alright."

"Yeah... I hope so too." Ed said quietly.

A shadow was cast over Ed as someone tall walked up behind him. "Are you Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist?" A rough voice said in a tone that was almost accusative.

"Yeah, who wants to know?" Ed asked, turning his head. He wasn't exactly in the mood for people from the military to be talking to him, but he stopped when he saw the man in a hoodie standing over him.

His eyes covered by dark shades, with a X shaped scar underneath them. As he raised his arm, Ed could just see a large Transmutation tattoo underneath his sleeve. The description of this man talking a second to register in his head.

"Your executioner." Scar said before small sparks went between his fingers and the carnage began.

* * *

Danny gave a sigh as he closed the door to the lab behind him and let himself slide down into the chair next behind what had once been Shou Tuckers decks, but had been Danny's work table and part time bed for the last three days.

The word tired didn't do it justice. He was mentally, physically, and spiritual exhausted. If he ever saw another Chimera again, it would be too soon.

His parents weren't kidding when they said it was the most disgusting form of Bio Alchemy that mankind had ever been dumb enough to attempt. And Tucker's experiments each reached a whole new level of disgusting. How could an art that was meant to save lives be used to twist innocent creatures into monstrosities.

Feeling the pain in his throat and eyes returning, he reached into his coat, pulling out his canteen full of his medicine. But before he could take a mouthful of the stuff, it was snatched out of his hand. "Wha..?" Danny gasped, eyes widening as he looked around.

"Children shouldn't be drinking alcohol." Lieutenant Hawkeye said disapprovingly as she held the canteen away from him. Hawkeye would have been a beautify woman, with her golden blond hair and strong figure, but her warriors eyes and stern expression diminished her looks.

"Give that back!" Danny shouted, reaching out for it, only to have the woman pull it out of his reach. "It isn't alcohol, its my medicine, I need it!"

"Medicine?" Hawkeye said questionably as she looked down into the container to see the slug like blue liquid inside of it. "Why do you need medicine?" She asked giving the boy a look before handing him the canteen, watching as Danny quickly downed a mouthful before she could change her mind.

"A few months ago my Alchemy rebounded on me. I haven't exactly recovered from it." Danny said, giving a part truth.

"I see." Hawkeye winced. She had seen Alchemy rebounds before. Not pretty. They were always painful at the very least, deadly at the very worst. "So how did go?" Hawkeye asked, trying to change the subject. It wasn't hard to know what she was talking about, but she didn't know exactly what to call it. Surgery? Operation? Experiment? None of the usual words felt appropriate.

Danny sighed as he put the bottle away. "Time will be the judge, but I did the best I could." He said shouldn't a little unsure of himself.

Hawkeye thought she would never get over this next generation. They all seemed so different from her own, so full of talent and determination to hold things together. She couldn't help but feel like her generation is just messing up the world and that it was these kids who would have to fit it all. And yet known of them seem to understand just how amazing they were.

Edward becoming a State Alchemist at age twelve in order to go and fix his and his brother's bodies. Jasmine becoming a doctor at age thirteen in order to take her parents place in town once they want missing. Daniel became a pharmacist at age eleven so that the town could actual afford its medicine.

"I'm sure everything will workout." Hawkeye said, even though she personally didn't believe in that philosophy. She reached out and patted Danny on the head, looking down at his odd snow white hair. "We should probably find the Elric brothers. Tell them that the... procedure went. Knowing the two of them they will probably be sulking in front of the library. Do you want to come with me to pick them up?"

Danny thought about it for a second and then nodded. "Yeah. I could use the air." He admitted before following her out.

But as they climbed into the car, they heard what sounded like a building collapsing for the direction of the library. The lights of Alchemy flying through the air in that direction. There was only one thing Hawkeye could think to say as she stomped down on the gas. "Typical."

* * *

 **Danny has zero combat training, or alchemy that specializes in combat. (I'm a doctor, not a fighter!) So he is just going to wing it and end up with some interesting results.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

"Who the heck is this guy!" Ed said as he rose a fourth wall from the paved road beneath his feet between the brothers and the man with a scar on his face. Not that this wall did them anymore good than the last three. The fourth wall exploded in a shower of dust as the man continued to run after them.

"You might as well stop running, Fullmetal. All the readers know how this ends." The man said as he ran full speed after them, white sparks moving along his arm from the bastardized alchemy that he had just used. It was a frightening thing, going against the laws of equivalent exchange, as far as Ed could tell; creating nothing out of something.

"Ed, look out! He broke the fourth wall!" Al shouted in panic.

"I noticed!" Ed shouted back as he ran as fast as he could down a flight of stairs. He was running into a problem he hated to admit... he was small. His shorter legs weren't meant to our run men who were twice his size, and his automail leg was starting to ache.

But as he reached the bottom of the second flight of stairs, Scar jumped down from the top, landing with a heavy thud, startling Ed who fell backwards onto his ass, looking up with frightened eyes at this murder who had come to kill him for reasons he didn't understand and with alchemy he was still trying to wrap him mind around.

"You alchemists who have gone against the divine, may your soul be purged with this arm." Scar said as he looked down at Ed through his shades. The Fullmetal Alchemist was too scared to even move as he wondered what kind of damage the man's alchemy could do to a human body.

But right as the man reached down to grab onto Ed's head, Al shoved him out of the way so that the hand wrapped around his metal arm. There was an explosion of heat as the fingers touched the metal, but Al's arm remained intact. Something that seemed to confuse the man, or perhaps it just annoyed him.

Ed blinked, it was a clue, something that his mind could focus on as it rebooted from the scare. The arm wasn't all powerful, it had to be set in line with what material he was trying to destroy. Theories and possibilities started to run through his head. Heat, it used heat. So how did that fit into it? If the heat was enough to blast through stone, then why didn't it even cause Al's metal to be misshapen? Unless the heat was a byproduct and not the means.

"Ed, get up!" Al shouted and he grabbed his brother and pulled him to his feet as they took a few steps away from the man and ran into a long alley. But before they could get out the other end, sparks ran across the wall and the other side of the alley was blocked as the building to their right collapsed down onto the path.

"Can't run this way anymore." Ed said turning back to the man. He was starting to regain his cool. "Guess we are going to have to fight then." He said lowering himself into a stance.

"Just be careful of that arm." Al said as he got ready to fight too.

"You don't have to tell me that!" Ed shouted before running forward. He did a faint, trying to draw out the man's arm so that his center of gravity would be thrown forward, and when Scar obliged, he pulled back before trying to sweep the feet out from under the scar faced man.

But Scar was not thrown off balance, as quickly followed up his attack on Ed who blocked his deadly arm with his own metallic one. Ed winced as a wave of vibrations went through the metal muscles in his automail arm and up into his real muscles and hit his nerves. But the automail itself didn't break, only the clothes that covered it shattered into pieces as the vibrations hit. Scar looked surprised when he saw the metal, not having expected the automail.

Ed throw a kick at Scar's face with his metal foot, though the man quickly side stepped it with the practiced ease of a skilled fighter. Though it did give Ed enough time to pull away while Al rushed in to try to put in a few jabs on the killer.

Again, Scar artfully dodged before reaching up with his alchemic arm and slapping Al's hip. This time though, instead of just releasing a few lines of steam, the metal body exploded into shards around were Al had been hit.

"Al!" Ed shouted in panic, as the suit of arm fell to the ground, revealing an hollow inside. Ed could just see the blood seal inside of the armor, it was still intact. That was good.

"What is this?" Scar said in shock as he stared at Al. "You alchemists. Do you have no respect for the ways of god? To create something as unnatural as this, a mockery of his creations." Scar started to move towards the empty shell.

"Stay away from him!" Ed shouted running forward as he clapped his hands together, using his alchemy to reshape his automail's arm plate into a blade.

Scar reached up with his normal arm, grabbing onto the wrist of the attacking arm. Then he brought up the alchemic arm and placed it against the elbow of the arm. Ed's nerves screamed as the arm shattered into a million pieces. Ed collapsed to his knees as as the pain momentarily overwhelmed him.

"Any last words before I send you to mean your maker?" Scar said as he stood over Edward Elric, prepared to finish his life.

"Ed, run!" Al shouted as loud as he could, trying to move, only to have his body fall apart a little more.

Ed looked up at the man. He had no more alchemy, no more way to fight to protect his younger brother. So he did the only thing he could do. "Please, just leave my brother out of this. Just kill me, and leave him alone." Ed said, looking almost at peace with himself.

It was enough to give Scar pause. "...I will." The man said as Al shouted for his brother to stop being an idiot and to just run.

But before Scar could lower his arm a gun shot sounded, and Scar's glasses flew off his head with a small trickle of blood from a bullet that grazed across the side of his head. They all turned to see Hawkeye standing in the mouth of the alleyway with a gun raised, Danny behind her beside her car. "That was a warning shot. Step away from the Fullmetal, or the next one won't miss." Scar turned towards them, his eyes now revealed. The dark red eyes spoke chapters about what was going on. "An Ishvalan?" Hawkeye said in shock.

While the lieutenant was distracted by his eyes, he throw his arm out towards the wall beside him, causing an pulse of alchemy to go through it and destabilize the stones in the building beside Hawkeye.

* * *

Danny stood there in shock as the stones began to fall down on Hawkeye's head. The quantity was to much for her to hope to get out of uninjured and there wasn't enough time to dodge.

He had to do something. He had to save her. His hands clapped together, prepared to do alchemy, only to realize he had no idea how to stop it.

He wasn't close enough to use normal alchemy on the stones, and though Alkahestry was able to be performed at a distance, you needed to have a sort of lightning rod to gid the energy or else it would just dissipate before it ever reached its target. He couldn't just put up a wall to protect her, there just wasn't enough time.

Danny's mind was drawing a blank as he just gathered more and more of the Dragon's Pulse into his hands which began to give off a green glow from the alchemic energy that was being stored within them. Time seemed to slow down as the stones got closer and closer to the lieutenant's head. Finally Danny just throw out his hands, hoping that enough of the energy would get their for his alchemy to work, forgetting that he hadn't even came up with a process for the reaction.

"Hawkeye!" He shouted as the energy is his hands shot up towards the falling stones, the force of the discharge throwing him backwards several feet back into the car with enough force to leave a dent in the metal as the green light flew through the air, crashing into the segment of wall above the lieutenant, pushing the entire thing away from her.

* * *

 **Scar's power can destroy anything, including the fourth wall. Though is all seriousness, I am going to actual be assigning a scientific explanation to Scar's arm, which I feel like they failed to do in the show.**

 **So how many of you saw Danny doing that coming? He will basically be having to learn to use the Dragon's Pulse the way Danny in the show used his ghost powers.**

 **Next thing I will have to do is have a bunch of crazy formerly homeless cripples hooked up to Philosopher's stones as part of an artificial sacrifices project that Father wanted to use encase he couldn't get enough alchemists, some of whom get loose. The first of course being a mad man who is obsessed with his old job of moving boxes around in warehouses.**


	11. Chapter 11

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

Leiutenant Riza Hawkeye stared at Danny in shock as the boy pushed himself up off the ground from where he had been pushed too after that strange attack. The skin had been burned from his hands, and they were dripping blood onto the ground, sparks of bright green light jumping between the exposed muscles as they moved and strange glowing green veins were easy to see through the blood.

"What on Earth?" She wondered.

"Hawkeye, look out!" Ed shouted, pulling the woman out of her trance so that she turned just in time to see Scar running at her with his killer arm outstretched.

She ducked down to dodge the swing, moving her pistol in front of her in order to cap him in the caff. She had missed the bone but the man's leg gave in anyways.

Scar gave a grunt of pain as he leaned forward over the lieutenant, trying to make it so that he fell with his alchemic arm on top of her. But the lieutenant quickly rolled to the side so the hand instead hit the street, sending up a cloud of dust.

Pushing herself to one knee, she held her gun pointed towards the space were she knew the mad man to be. "Try anything else and you are a dead man." She said calmly. She could hear the sounds of cars coming to a halt outside of the alley as reinforcements showed up. After they would have been useful, and before it would stop being harmful. Typical.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye!" Roy shouted as he entered the alley, a row of gunmen behind him. Riza wanted to shout to get the people out of there before they saw what Alphonse Elric was really like underneath that armor, but it was too late for that now.

The smoke cleared and they could all see. Scar looked up at them with his angry red eyes. "Ishvalan." The word was parroted around as they all saw him for what he was.

"Scar, in the name of the Fuhrer we are taking you in." Mustang said pulling on his alchemy gloves.

Scar didn't say a word. But his arm glowed and the ground underneath his hand exploded, caving in and blasting dust through the alleyway, leaving everyone coughing. By the time the dust cleared for a second time, he was gone, a large hole into the sewers.

"Damn it. Gets some man down there to search for him, I don't want this man escaping!" Mustang said angrily.

"Al!" Ed shouted pulling himself up and limping over to his brother's metal body. Everyone staring in slack jawed disbelief. "Al you alright? You still in there?"

Ed was answered by a punch to the face. The two of them started to shout about what they were supposed to have done in a situation like that. Things just getting more and more out of hand.

"Ms. Hawkeye, are you alright?" Hawkeye turned her head to see Danny standing next to her.

The blond woman looked down at the boy's torn hands. "I should be the one asking you that." She said, wondering how Danny could even more. His skin had been ripped from his flesh. That should have been painful beyond words.

Danny blinked before noticing that she was looking at his hands. He raised them up and looked surprised at their condition, as if he couldn't even feel it. "I'll be fine." He said, clapping the hands together. Sparks of green electricity running along the lower arms as skin cells started to rapidly multiply to make up for what had been lost. Danny gritted his teeth slightly as the sparks moved along his arms, as if that was more painful that the skin being pulled off of it.

"I'm in an extra special freak show story today." Lieutenant Colonel Hughes said as he and Major Armstrong watched the scene unfolding before them.

Roy walked up to the two, they had all been thick as thieves ever since the rebellion, so he had their full trust. "I know you two have your questions, but this isn't the place. We need to get these kids off the street." He said to them, giving them one of his looks.

"Sure thing. We'll get the cars ready." Hughes said with a nod.

Mustang turned his eyes to Riza and then to the Elric brothers. "I should never have suggested they leave Resembool." He said, guilt in his voice, knowing that the two had almost died because Edward's state license.

"Roy, what's done is done. We need to keep moving." Riza whispered to him, earning a nod. That was all humans ever did. They kept moving, at least... until they were dead.

None of them saw the two figures standing on the roofs nearby watching the seen. "Well lucky us, it doesn't look like we had to show ourselves after all, does it Gluttony." A woman said patting what looked like an extremely fat man on his bald head. "And there is a second sacrifice as well. Father will be most pleased."

* * *

Danny and the Elric brothers were all moved back to the old Tucker house where they all sat around the table to get confessions out of the way. Danny haven't already used his Alchemy to fix up Ed's scraps and bruises, so a hospital wouldn't be needed. Only a mechanic for his arm.

Ed and Al had been forced to go first. Telling the story of how they had tried to bring back their mother and what had gone wrong. It had cleared things up for Danny who had assumed that Ed had tried to bring Al back. It made more sense this way. He didn't manage to bring back his brother's soul back from the dead, because his brother never truly died.

"What I want to know, is what you did back there? You preformed Alchemy without a circle, just like Ed does." Alphonse said, looking to Danny. He had lost an arm and a leg during the attack, and the hole in the armor was now being covered by a bed sheet that had been tied in place.

"I don't know if that was even Alchemy. Wasn't like anything I'd seen before." Ed added.

Danny shifted in his chair a bit. He was not looking forward to having to tell his story. "I'm not exactly sure what I did back there. Though as far as using Alchemy without a circle goes... there is a story there." Danny said with a sigh. "My little sister was born sick. She was also too ill to even get out of bed, and the medicine my parents invented to save her life didn't fit the problem. Her organs were getting weaker and weaker as the tissue was dying."

"But she seems fine to me." Ed said thinking back to the little girl playing around with Sam.

"That's because I came up with an idea." Danny lied, not wanting to reveal how much of his parents research he had. "I was going to use a eastern form of alchemy, called Alkahestry, in order to force the dead and dying tissue to act like healthy tissue. Reversing the effects of her sickness. And it worked, though at a price. Apparently, I had gotten too close to Human Transmutation, and I was punished for stepping into god's domain, just like the Elric brothers were."

"You've seen Truth." Edward said in surprise. Danny could only nod.

"What are you talking about? What truth?" Hawkeye asked them.

"You don't want to know." The two boys said together with drained looks.

"Truth takes a price from you if you attempt Human Transmutation. What was yours?" Ed asked Danny.

Danny swallowed, not sure if they would believe him without a demonstration. He lifted up his hand and grabbed a knife that was on the table. Then, before they could stop him, he drove it into his own chest where his heart should have been. Looking up at their shocked faces, he pulled out the knife before using some more Alkahestry in order to close the wound. "My price, it was my heart."

"That's impossible... isn't it?" Hughes asked, looking around the table.

"Should be." Mustang said, though he wasn't that sure after that little show. "If you lost your heart, then how are you alive?"

"The same alchemy that fixed my sister is burned onto every cell in my body. I suppose you could say it is part of my DNA at this point. Every moment all of the reactions that are needed to sustain my life accrue, even though I don't have a beating heart to supply the needed oxygen to get the energy for the reactions. Instead its using alchemic energies to keep me going." Danny said, flexing his fingers. Thinking about each and every reaction in each and every muscle. He could see all the lights flickering just underneath his skin. "But alchemy being done on the body at the cellular level is painful beyond what I can even begin to describe. I had never felt anything like it before in my life, and without medication to dull the pain, I can't even stand. Even with it dulled I'm in pretty much constant pain all the time."

"So that medicine you care around with you, that's painkiller?" Hawkeye said with a look of pity.

"Yeah. I'm usually on enough painkiller to put someone under for a few days. Though it is barely enough." Danny admitted.

" _YOU POOR YOUNG BOYS!_ " They all jumped as Armstrong seemed to be going through some kind of melt down. " _TO GO THROUGH SO MUCH! LITERALLY SACRIFICING LIFE AND LIMB FOR YOUR FAMILIES! COME, LET ME COMFORT YOU IN MY EMBRACE!_ " Danny's brain went into shock as the light of alchemy started to grow stronger around the man, turning into sparkles within the air as he flexed his muscles to the point were his shirt exploded, exposing what must have been a ten pack.

Before Ed or Danny could runaway, they found themselves both lifted out of their seats and pressed into the man's pecks. "What the hell!? Let go!"

"Don't worry Fullmetal, that's just how Alex is. He won't hurt you." Mustang said, sounding like he was getting a kick out of this. "Though I have to wonder what you were doing down at the alley with Lieutenant Hawkeye? Weren't you supposed to be performing your experimental procedure on the girl today?"

Ed's brain seemed to latch onto that as a life line. "That's right, Nina! How did it all go!? Did you manage to get her back to normal!?"

Alex stopped and dropped the two to the ground. "What's this about a Nina?"

Danny was quiet. "Sorry... I did all I could."

Ed had frozen and Mustang looked down with sad eyes. Hughes and Armstrong just looked around confused, though they felt the tension in the room. "You mean... she's dead?" Al said what was on all their minds.

"What? No!" Danny said confused as to why they would jump to that conclusion. "I said I did all I could. I didn't say she was dead. Her mind was separated from the dog's and her body seems to be stable. We will need a bit more time to make sure that she doesn't have some kind of relapse, but she seems healthy."

"Then why didn't you just say you fixed her!" Ed shouted angrily.

"Because you asked if she was back to 'normal'." Danny said backing away.

"What is that supposed to mean!? Is she better or not!?" Ed shouted again.

"Perhaps it would be better if you all just saw it yourselves." Riza said flatly. "It is... quite adorable really."

* * *

They all stood around the little sleeping girl's bed, staring down at her face.

During the process, a few of Nina's own recessive traits that she had in common with Lieutenant Hawkeye had been brought up to the surface by the method that was chosen to decrypt her DNA. So her old brown hair was now a golden blond, and with it out of her usual braids, she looked like a little Hawkeye who let her hair down.

That is, if it wasn't for one detail.

" **WHY DOES SHE HAVE DOG EARS!?** "

* * *

 **If you claim to have seen that coming, I will call you a liar. But that's how it is going to be. Nina is now a little girl with dog ears.**

 **Stab Danny for all he cares, he's on too much painkiller to feel it.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

"I thought you said you were going to fix her!" Edward Elric shouted, grabbing onto Danny's collar with his one arm and shaking him back and forth. If it wasn't for the drugs from the procedure keeping Nina asleep, the girl would have surely woken up.

That is, until a hard feminine arm wrapped around his neck and he heard something that sounded like the hammer on a gun being pulled back. "Edward Elric, this is not appropriate bed side manner. Either quiet down or leave the area." Hawkeye's stern voice froze Ed. The fact that he was technically her superior hardly seemed to matter in this instance.

Danny coughed aloud as he was released, less from an actual need for the air, and more because of a natural physical reaction from pressure being applied to the throat. "I told you... I did everything I could." Danny said once the coughing stopped. "The simple fact is, the DNA sequences that allowed for the formation of human ears was deteriorated. It was either leave the dog ears or she would have to live her life deaf." Danny explained.

"So in other words, this is all Shou Tucker's fault." Ed growled. "If that bastard wasn't already died I would kill him for being such a shit alchemist."

"I thought you were using Lieutenent Hawkeye's blood to fix that?" Al whispered loudly from where Major Armstrong was holding him.

"I was using her DNA to decode Nina's, I can't replace the DNA in every cell in the girl's body. Hawkeye doesn't have enough blood for that." Danny said defensively.

Mustang had walked up to the bed and was petting the sleeping girl. "Oh she's so adorable! Riza, can we keep her? Please?" The colonel asked his lieutenant. "I always wanted to have a puppy around the office."

"As adorable as she is sir, we can't keep a four year old girl with dog ears in Eastern Command. Beyond simply being inappropriate for the work place, it would also gather undue attention." Hawkeye said sternly, ignoring the Colonel's moping face. "Remember, this operation wasn't government approved."

"She's unfortunately right, Roy." Hughes said though he was also sitting by the bed, touching the floppy dog ears. "Cute as the girl is, we can't keep her around the military. So any suggestions?"

"Yeah I've got one." Ed said shrugging his empty shoulder. "Al and I need to go back to Resembool to get fixed up. Winry and the oldbag would probably be willing to put the girl up. They're good people and aren't the type to worry about small oddities."

Riza nodded. "The Rockbells have a family history with medicine and working with disabled patients and orphans. It seems like a good choice." She said looking about the room.

Roy had stood up and crossed his arms, a little disappointed he wasn't going to be getting a mascot but knowing that his lieutenant was right. "Understood, but with Scar running about with a target on Fullmetal's back. We can't let Edward run around on his own right now. He will need an escort."

"Like hell I do!" Ed shouted angrily.

"Ed, what exactly would you do if Scar did show up? He defeated you pretty easily already, and that was when you hard both arms." Mustang said with a smirk.

"Shut! He surprised me. I understand his Alchemy now. He won't be able to beat me next time with his cheep trick!" Ed insisted.

"You understand it?" Al said surprised. "How was he doing it? Destroying without creating?" Everyone seemed to be listening closely now.

"His Alchemy isn't as complex or powerful as you might think. It's a physical reaction, a wave generator." Ed said with a cocky grin, as if everyone should be impressed that he figured it out. Hawkeye and Hughes both looked confused, but all the alchemists looked shocked.

"You can't change the state of mater with a physical reaction. It had to be some form of material alchemy reconstructing it, or else a form of combustion alchemy blowing it up." Mustang said with a frown.

"Nope, it is a simple wave generating transmutation circle." Ed said again. "Having you ever heard of Destructive Resonance?" Both Al and Armstrong gasped.

"I've never heard of it." Danny said confused, anything that was outside of bioalchemy and arcane alchemy was beyond his understanding.

"It's a basic idea in structural design for material based Alchemy." Armstrong said in his gruff voice. "It's theorized that every substance in the universe has an ideal harmonic state of being, and that if you feed a wave into that substance that matches that ideal state, it resonates, and then it acts as though you applied a near infinite force to it for an unmeasurably short period of time." The Armstrong Alchemist explained.

"And what does that do exactly?" Hughes asked, not understanding a word of this science mumbo jumbo.

"It rips the structure of the material apart while using minimal energy. And if done on the atomic level, it would take apart the individual atom's turning them into heat energy that can be easily absorbed or dispersed. Creating more waves that would spread the effect however he chooses." Ed concluded. "Though it requires a knowledge of the substance you are using it on. A kind of knowledge that is surprising to find anywhere. This Scar guy must have found a way to use that arm to figure out the ideal wavelength so that he can destroy any single substance. It's as ingenious as it is sickening." Then he grinned at Mustang again. "And just like how you are useless in the rain, there are conditions that will make him powerless." Mustang glared down at the boy, his fingers twitched with the surprised erg of burning him alive.

"Wow Ed, I can't believe you figured all this out. What are his weaknesses?" Al asked in an excited voice.

"... I... don't know yet." Ed said slowly, trying to ignore the looks everyone gave him. "But I will figure it out!"

"So much for your brilliance, Fullmetal." Mustang said to tick off Ed before he turned to the Armstrong Alchemist. "I'm afraid material alchemy isn't my strong suit, but your familiar with it, correct?"

"That's right! The Armstrong style of Material Alchemy has been passed down for generations!" Major Armstrong said, pumping his muscles. None of them could remember when he took his top off again. "And if Edward's theory is correct, then we do have options in countering this Scar fellow's Alchemy. The main one is nonuniform alloys; using a network of different materials where no single type of metal is vital to the structure of the attack or defense."

"And you can preform such Alchemy?" Mustang asked the Major.

"Of course I can!" Alex shouted as sparkles started to shine in the air.

"Alright then, Major Armstrong, you will be the one to escort the boys home." Mustang said.

"What? I told you I can take him!" Ed argued.

"Not without your arm. Don't fight me on this, Fullmetal. Just be glad I am letting you go at all. Most superiors would have you on lock down and say that your mechanic can come here." Mustang said with a glare. "You and your brother, as well as Nina, will be escorted by the Major, end of discussion."

"Actually..." Danny said weakly, getting the groups attention. He felt rather small and unimportant in this room of military officers, especially the giant Major Armstrong. But he had to do his job as a man of medicine. "Even if she should be fine to get up by tomorrow morning, we need to keep an eye on Nina for a few more days at the very least. So It would probably be best if my group went along with them."

Mustang didn't look happy. "Great. That means I will need to increase the security detail. And the number of people I can trust with this isn't that great." He said angrily. "Hughes is going back to central tomorrow, so he can't."

"I'll do it sir." Hawkeye offered, surprising the Colonel with a soft smile. "I promised that I would visit the Rockbells one day. I need to make good on that promise."

Mustang tapped his finger in through. He didn't enjoy the idea of allowing his queen so far away from his other pieces, but he didn't have much of a choice at the moment. "Just be sure to make it back in one piece, Riza." He mumbled.

"Yes sir." Lieutenant Hawkeye said with a solute.

"Everyone go home and get prepared. We will arrange for tickets on the train tomorrow. Major, do you have any objections with sleeping here with the Elric brothers and the Fenton party tonight?" Mustang asked.

"None sir." Armstrong said, standing at attention, his shirt magically back on.

Mustang nodded. "Then get some rest. You'll need it."

* * *

 **I'm going to keep Hawkeye around for a while longer. Danny is going to split from Ed after Ed gets his arm back (I will have introduced at least one ghost by then. Maybe two), and before they find out about the secret documents in the central library.**

 **Meeting back up with them later after Ed breaks his arm again, but before they go to talk to their old teacher, and meet Greed.**


End file.
